


i watch yours, you watch mine

by invoked_duplicity



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Bonding, Canon-Typical Violence, Fantasy Racism, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Yasha is a badass, in regard to Nott's usual drinking habits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 01:17:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14557692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invoked_duplicity/pseuds/invoked_duplicity
Summary: Nott tries to scout ahead of the group and gets in trouble.





	i watch yours, you watch mine

**Author's Note:**

> And another prompt fill from tumblr! I got asked to write something platonic between Yasha and Nott! Those two need to interact more, I love their dynamic so much *~* 
> 
> If you want to leave a prompt feel free to come into my askbox on tumblr at invoked-duplicity :)

### I

Nott knows that she’s gotten careless. 

It’s all this new company that accepts her just the way she is, not caring at all that she’s a goblin and ignoring the fact that many of her people are bloodthirsty monsters who burn down entire villages and kill adults and children alike. 

Never mind that Nott has no interest in burning down villages or stealing human children – the people who look at her don’t care about Nott as a person. They care about the fact that she’s a goblin. 

Before she met Caleb Nott had never really been accepted by anyone. And now she’s got a whole new family, a whole group of people who look at her and see a person and not a goblin – a messed up, drunk-all-the-time and probably really weird person. But still, they just take Nott the way she is. It’s not at all surprising that she got overwhelmed, that she got wrapped up in all this false security. 

She wears her mask less and less these days, because in the company of the Mighty Nein she simply doesn’t need to. Sure, there are days when she goes out on her own and casts a spell to make herself look normal. But mostly Nott just stays the way she is, lurking in the shadows or tagging alongside Jester and Caleb. 

Today Nott left her mask at the inn again. She wanted to check out the sewer system in this new city while the others are occupied. Nott keeps to the shadows as always, it’s a force of habit now, one she probably won’t ever leave behind. It’s how she survives. 

Nott hopes that Yasha will return before they have to go down there, because fights always go smoother when she’s there. It’s comforting to have someone so big and strong accompany them and while Nott was afraid of Yasha in the beginning, it got easier to not be frightened anymore. While Yasha is very big and impressively strong she’s also just as awkward as Caleb. 

Yasha even showed Nott a book with flowers pressed between the pages – the flowers Nott gave to her shortly after they’d met. 

It’s dark already, probably close to midnight. Nott can smell rain in the air while she slowly creeps forward towards the next entry to the sewer system. Maybe she can already pick the lock and check for traps – just in case. She doesn’t want to cause another disaster for any member of the group because she missed anything. 

If Caleb knew that she was out alone, he would probably start getting nervous. 

Nott can hear a group of drunken men somewhere down the street, arguing about whatever it is human men shout about in the middle of the night when they’re loud and scary and violent. Nott isn’t really interested in what they’re saying. She creeps closer to the iron lid in the ground. 

The lock appears to be standard, nothing she can’t handle with a few sips from her flask. Nott crouches down and cards through her things. She takes out her lock picks and her flask, screws the lid open and takes two sips – and while she waits for it to kick in, she lays out her tools and wonders which lock picks might fit the lock in front of her. 

Nott peaks down into the darkness of the sewer she’s about to go into. She can barely see the end of the slightly rusty ladder which seems to go down forever and into the shadows of the city’s underbelly. If they can find the four missing citizens alive down there, they’ll get a huge reward. 

Caleb could buy a lot of new books or scrolls, Jester a ton of pastries and maybe Nott could buy some flowers for Yasha when she comes back the next time. Yasha really likes flowers, Nott knows. She would look very pretty with flowers in her hair. 

Nott fumbles with one of the lock picks for a second, her eyes trained on the task before her, when a hand grabs her neck and tears her upwards. 

“Look at this vermin! Little rat creeping around in our streets!”

Nott feels panic rise in her throat while she struggles and squeaks helplessly in the firm grip that presses painfully on her throat, making breathing hard. Nott claws at the hand while three more figures gather around, looming over her. They smell like liquor and old, cold sweat, their grimaces ugly and contorted with hatred and disgust. 

Nott knows what this is. 

Humans look at her and see a goblin, a parasite in this city of theirs, not caring at all that Nott might be a citizen like any other because of her green skin and her big teeth. She could be lucky if they just beat her, but what if they–

A large shadow appears behind the man that holds Nott up and a pale hand closes around the hairy, meaty wrist. 

“Move and I’ll kill you.”

Nott goes limp in the violent grip of the dirty hand around her and she feels the man go very still for a moment. 

“Let her go”, Yasha says, her voice sounding calm on the surface, but Nott can hear the underlying vibrations there. She’s accustomed to look out for changes in tone because she needs this skill to survive in a world of big people who hate her on sight alone. 

The hand loosens its grip and Nott falls to the ground, scrambles away and presses herself against the cold brick wall. She’s so frightened she can hardly breathe and her throat feels sore and bruised from the hand that pressed down on it just a second ago. 

Yasha looms over the man in all her impressive height, her pale eyes glowing strangely in the light of an oil lantern a few feet down the narrow street. Apparently the sweaty guy assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that while Yasha is taller than any of his friends, they’re still four men against just one woman, because he starts moving. 

Nott watches as he takes a swing at Yasha and Nott fumbles for her crossbow because she won’t let them hurt Yasha. Over the last couple of months Nott had time to watch her new companions and by now she could recognize the way they move in her sleep. 

Caleb always makes himself small, trying to be invisible. He doesn’t move his hands a lot except when he’s excitedly flapping them when Nott shows him a new spell or he gets his hands on a new book about magic. 

Molly, in stark contrast, always moves. Nott has never seen him still, he always juggles something, always has something in his hands to move around, his eyes darting all across rooms, watching people, almost like a hyperactive cat waiting to bounce on anything that interests it. 

Fjord moves careful, in a controlled way that suggests every movement is deliberate and planned, calculated and consciously executed, as if he’s always trying to fool someone. Nott hasn’t figured out what he’s doing that for, but she noticed. 

Jester is a blur wherever she goes, a colorful whirlwind much like Mollymauk but unpredictable, completely random, like a dancer who lost her rhythm on purpose. She moves her hands a lot when she speaks and also her face, always scrunching her nose, making grimaces, wiggling her brows. 

Beau is all sharp edges and even sharper movements. She’s fast and violent and she can never just _be_. She’s either on the defense or offense – there is no neutral movement from Beauregard. Not that Nott has seen it, anyway. 

And Yasha. Well, Yasha is either a statue or a heavy thunderstorm. There is almost no in between. And right now, there is a storm coming for the four guys who hurt Nott, as Yasha whirls around and grabs two of the guys by the neck, smashing their heads together in a feat of violence that would’ve made Beau proud, Jester cheer and Molly laugh full of delight. 

Nott hasn’t even time to aim her crossbow as Yasha pulls her blade and brings the blunt end down on the head of the third guy who crumples to the ground unmoving while Yasha turns her gaze on the fourth guy, the one who tried to take a swing at Yasha, not even able to move her even a tiny bit. 

Nott wishes she could be as big and strong as Yasha. But having her as a friend is the second best thing, she thinks while Yasha closes her hand around the man’s throat. His face turns red and redder as Nott watches. 

“You hurt my friend”, Yasha says quietly and Nott’s heart swells because hearing it is the best thing. A confirmation of the feeling she’s had for quite a while now. Most of the time Nott doesn’t dare to imagine that people might actually like her. But maybe Yasha feels the same. 

Nott doesn’t even hear what the violent stranger croaks as an answer. Even though her throat still hurts and her heart still hammers against her ribcage she feels warm and fuzzy and surprisingly safe regarding the fact that she was attacked just a minute ago. 

Yasha lets go of the man’s throat and he falls down just like Nott did before, scrambling back because now he’s small and helpless. He’s the vermin now and Nott is very pleased. Yasha waits until he runs off, almost stumbling to the ground two times before taking a turn and vanishing from sight. Two of the men are still unconscious, the third one follows his friend’s lead. 

“What’d you do out here alone?”, Yasha asks quietly and looks down at Nott’s toolkit, still lying on the ground in front of the iron lid. 

“I wanted to–I was–I just wanted to check out the route for tomorrow”, Nott admits, her voice cracking a bit at the end. She hasn’t been a very good rogue and she knows it, but she wants to be useful for the team. It can’t be her fault that her companions keep getting hurt because she didn’t do her job right. Yasha looks at her, then she sits down, legs crossed and elbows resting on her knees. 

“Ok, cool. Do your thing. I’ll join you”, she says. 

Nott blinks. She was waiting for the whole “What were you thinking?”-speech but Yasha just looks at Nott expectantly, simply waiting for her to open the lid, as if there aren’t two unconscious guys lying just a few feet away. 

“Oh–ok then. Ok”, Nott mumbles and grabs one of her lock picks. 

“Thank you, by the way”, she adds quietly, her voice still wobbling from anxiety. 

“Anytime.”

Nott manages a small smile, then she goes to work on the lock. It’s rusty and heavy but it takes only a few seconds to get it open. Yasha helps her to get the lid open because it’s too heavy for Nott to lift. She would’ve failed at this point already if Yasha hadn’t showed up. 

“So, should we check it out?”, Yasha says, peeking down into the darkness without commenting on Nott’s lack of physical strength. Nott is grateful and tries not to think about the fact that she couldn’t have completed her self-assigned mission at all. 

“You don’t have to–“

“It’s fine. I’ll watch your back, you watch mine, yeah?”

Nott nods. 

_You watch mine._

Yasha didn’t just say that she was going to watch Nott’s back. She expects Nott to look out for her too. 

“I’ll do my best”, Nott says and peaks down into the hole before grabbing the ladder and starting the climb downward. When she looks up Yasha has a soft smile on her face. 

“I know, Nott. You always do”, she says and follows Nott into the darkness.


End file.
